Gamified training success prompts rinse and repeat strategy for BSH Home Appliances
Producers of goods have ever-increasing competition from new and emerging brands, while physical retailers struggle against the convenience of online shopping. Because of this, the point-of-sale experience must be just as frictionless and far more informative than online to convince shoppers to purchase in store.
Recognizing the central role of training in this effort, global appliance manufacturer BSH Home Appliances Northern Europe approached Attensi to develop a next-generation training solution to better impart product knowledge to staff at retail locations that sell Bosch and Siemens products, with the goal of improving in-store sales. Product knowledge is especially critical with high-end goods like appliances, where manufacturers and retailers must collaborate to arm sales teams with substantial amounts of expertise.
Using a combination of gaming, coding and behavioral psychology expertise, the Attensi team created training built on gamified simulation-based apps that can be delivered via mobile. The solution was deployed in a pilot program involving 20 stores, with the focus initially limited to training on a very specific product feature: an auto-dosing feature in Bosch and Siemens high-end washing machines. The auto-dosing feature measures and dispenses detergents automatically for any laundry load.
“Auto-dosing is an innovative feature that people are very interested in, but it helps if they can have the benefits explained in detail,” said BSH Home Appliances Northern Europe Head of Sell-out Management and Training Excellence Thomas Antonsen, putting the project’s success into perspective.
“Knowledgeable and friendly staff, who can offer face-to-face contact and answer difficult questions, are still valued and will make customers more likely to purchase, especially when it comes to big-ticket items such as electronic and white goods.”
The results of the pilot program were dramatic:
- Stores where associates received the training saw a 26.2% increase in sales of the appliances, while stores that did not take part in the training saw a 13% decrease.
- Feedback from staff was also positive, with 100% of those who received the training agreeing it improved their ability to recommend products to customers.
- Staff willingly spent 90 minutes or more “playing” training apps, resulting in 93% improvement in product knowledge.
“We have been working with BSH Home Appliances Northern Europe since 2018 with an approach to training, using simulation-based apps delivered via mobile, that has helped staff sell more units by closing the knowledge gaps,” added Attensi, Business Development Director Manager, Ellen Vrålstad.
“The data show people aren’t just completing the training two or three times; they are coming back time and again, in some cases playing it up to ten times.”
The success of the pilot program has demonstrated a significant competitive advantage to BSH Home Appliances in helping their products stand out on the showroom floor. This has led to a global roll-out of the program into 2022 – with trainings expanded to a broader array of Bosch and Siemens products and features, and new competitive elements and other upgrades to the gamified curriculum. This Attensi/BSH Home Appliances collaboration has already expanded from the initial Nordic markets into the United States and the Baltics, with plans for implementation in the United Kingdom as well.
About BSH Home Appliances
BSH Home Appliances, with a total turnover of some €3.9 billion and 60,000 employees in 2020, is a global leader in the home appliance industry. The company’s brand portfolio includes eleven well-known appliance brands like Bosch, Siemens, Gaggenau and Neff; as well as the ecosystem brand Home Connect and service brands like Kitchen Stories. BSH produces at 39 factories and is represented in some 50 countries. BSH is a Bosch Group company.
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